Happy Trails to You

Ants got a big public-relations boost last year in the movies. But as lovable as they are on screen, they still cause anxiety in real life when they are marching by the hundreds up a kitchen wall or around a bathroom sink.

As the summer temperatures heat up Ventura County, ants proliferate. And they, like all of us, get thirsty, and know where to go to find water. They also are attracted to protein and sweets--even more reason to invite themselves inside.

If you are having an ant invasion for the first time and don’t know what to do or are up to your ears in ants and need backup, there are professional exterminators at your service throughout the county. We checked in with a few of them to see what they had to offer and how much they charged.

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Jim Keefover, owner of the Ventura-based Bug Contractor extermination firm, knows where ants hang out.

“In Southern California, almost all of the ant problems are with Argentine ants and they almost always show up in the kitchen, the bathroom or the laundry room first,” Keefover said. “They follow the pipes on the outside of the house and that’s their common point of entry.”

Knowing where the ants congregate, of course, helps with their elimination.

“Argentine ants only breed in soil, so the outside of the home must be sprayed,” Keefover said. “Inside, where the pipes go into the wall, pesticidal dust is injected into the wall over the plumbing pipes.”

Keefover also sprays window tracks, lighting tracks and other ant-friendly spots, he said.

The Bug Contractor determines price based on square footage of the home. For a 1,500-square-foot site, with an average yard area, the cost is $75 to $85 per job and comes with a 60-day guarantee.

After the original service, Keefover said, he recommends regular maintenance visits.

“Every other month I come out and do the exterior, and it usually costs less than half the initial rate,” he said.

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Dennis Gottlieb, owner of the Bug Mechanic pest-control service in Thousand Oaks, said that battling ants requires a bit of detective work. Finding the ant parade in the kitchen is one thing, but locating the source of the ants is another.

“You can spray the traffic areas and you may kill the ants there but not destroy the colony,” Gottlieb said. “You have to ferret out their nests.”

And the nests, he said, can be just about anywhere--up a tree, around a corner, even in the kitchen itself.

“I’ve seen one colony of ants that imported dirt for a nest that was under the dishwasher,” he said.

Gottlieb treats homes inside and out. And though many pest-control companies treat a zone around the house, he covers the entire area, he said, because ants have a habit of congregating near swimming pools and barbecues that are outside the zone.

Outside, Gottlieb said, sprays and baits can be effective. Inside, a dust pesticide and, for cracks and crevices, an aerosol spray work well.

The Bug Mechanic charges about $75 to treat a 1,500-square-foot home and yard. Maintenance visits, every two months--which is about the maximum time that pest-control products last--are about $45.

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The folks at Ventura Pest Control said the ant season is already in full swing and it looks to be a busy one. Ants, they said, are the No. 1 pest they are called upon to eradicate.

Ants are able to travel around mud seals in stucco homes and concrete slabs to find their way to kitchens in search of sustenance. Then the ant scouts leave a scent trail to the food source so the rest of their colony can find the way.

At Ventura Pest Control, the extermination service includes treating the exterior entry point as well as the interior of a home to catch ants that have already found their way into the walls. The company uses an exterior spray made of low-toxicity granular baits. They are applied in dirt areas and activated by water.

For a standard 1,500- to 2,000-square-foot home, the cost is about $90 for an initial treatment. Follow-up maintenance calls, every 60 days, are about $40.

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Mark Brierley, owner of Brierley Pest Control in Ventura, said he likes to visit a home before making an estimate. As with other pest exterminators, the cost varies with the size of the property and the difficulty of the job.

Generally speaking, Brierley said, he charges about $75 for the initial visit on an average 1,500-square-foot home. Follow-up visits, monthly or quarterly, cost about $45 to $50 per call.

The product Brierley uses can vary with each job, he said.

“With some accounts I use no chemicals,” he said. “I may use traps or pheromone lures.”

Leo Smith can be reached at 653-7570 or by fax at 653-7576.